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The CADUCEUS project is
funded by an
Internet 2 grant through Wichita State
University. Its goal is to preserve and advance the knowledge
base of teaching by gathering and disseminating useful
examples of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) related
to teaching for conceptual understanding (CU). |
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Staff Developers |
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CADUCEUS invites teachers to share their PCK development
stories: That is, how they first began teaching
particular concepts, how they changed their approaches,
and why. Such stories can enhance our understanding of
how teachers and students learn (Wilson & Byrne, 1999),
and help set direction for further professional
development. |
Click here to find out more information about those
who created the CADUCEUS site. |
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What is PCK? |
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PCK distinguishes the
subject matter expert from the effective subject matter
teacher (Shulman,1987). Researchers have defined it
variously, but most delineations share the following
elements: |
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Insights into the components of a given piece of content
Knowledge of students’ error patterns related to that
content, and
Instructional representations (models, analogies,
images) and other pedagogical strategies that have been
found effective in addressing these error patterns for
diverse learners.
Crossing and re-crossing particular curricular terrain
with successive groups of students, reflective teachers
evolve their PCK (Cochran, DeRuiter, & King, 1993). |
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Where Does CADUCEUS Find
Examples of PCK? |
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CADUCEUS is built on a
foundation of PCK from published research, interviews
with practicing teachers, and web submissions from
teachers and students. |
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Why Does CADUCEUS Have a
Conceptual Focus? |
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New teachers often think
first in terms of materials and activities, later about
measurable learning outcomes (Fuller, 1969). Even
experienced teachers are apt to talk in terms of topics
rather than concepts (Erickson, H.L., 1998; Langrall,
1997), yet teaching for conceptual understanding (CU) is
recommended as a powerful way to foster transfer of
learning into new contexts (National Research Council,
2000; Prawat, 1989). Echoing this, recent evidence from
the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS)
1999 Video Study reveals that eighth grade math teachers
in Japan, whose students have consistently outperformed
their US peers on the TIMSS, allocate nearly
three-and-a-half times more class time to fostering
students’ conceptual connections than do their U.S.
counterparts (TIMSS Video Mathematics Research Group,
2003). CADUCEUS aims to foster greater awareness of how
to teach for conceptual understanding. |
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Who would
benefit from CADUCEUS? |
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Colleges of Teacher
Education, Liberal Arts and Science Faculty
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The National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is now
expecting schools, departments, and colleges of
education to help pre-service teachers to acquire PCK
before they have become certified (NCATE, 2002).
However, many pre-service teachers come into teacher
education programs with a host of misconceptions about
teaching, including the notion that content knowledge is
relatively simple and theirs is adequate to teach (McDiarmid,
1990). CADUCEUS is designed to facilitate a deeper
understanding of content knowledge through unpacking
target concepts into their constituent parts and to
accelerate an awareness of the errors learners make in
developing these concepts, so that lesson planning can
intentionally target them. |
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Novice Teachers |
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New teachers often carry the
same job load as the twenty year veteran, without
benefit of sustained classroom experience and little
on-the-job support from trained mentors (Glickman,
1990). Having to master classroom management, while
simultaneously becoming familiar with new students’
needs, (re)acquainting themselves with target content,
developing and evaluating standards-based curricular
materials, and executing effective lessons carry a
tremendous cognitive load. CADUCEUS is designed to
lighten some of that load. |
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Teachers and Students
with Limited Access to Quality Teaching Materials |
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School funding is
inequitable in many parts of the U.S., resulting in
large disparities in resources across districts (Furguson,
1991; Furguson & Ladd, 1996). CADUCEUS aims to provide
free access to powerful teaching and learning ideas that
have worked in a broad range of contexts. |
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Teacher Interns in Emergency
and Alternative Certification Programs and In-service
Teachers Placed in Assignments Outside their
Certification Area
Teacher shortages have placed new
recruits and veteran teachers in need of convenient
access to particular professional knowledge (Ovando &
Trube, 2000). CADUCEUS aims to gather and share
understandings of experienced teachers, so that the work
of new recruits can be more rapidly advanced. |
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Development Plan for CADUCEUS: |
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Phase I –
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• To
build a database of error patterns associated with
particular concepts • To offer links to interactive web
sites offering students opportunities to construct
“taken as shared” conceptions of target content.
• To
provide graphic representations of core concepts in the
subject areas for teachers to enhance their own content
knowledge. |
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Phase II –
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• To develop interactive
games for students in Grades 3 - 12 to help them
construct conceptual understanding of key concepts in
diverse content areas. |
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Phase III –
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• To include the “growth
stories” of teachers and students related to their
teaching and learning particular concepts. |
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Phase IV –
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• To
create an online forum for users of CADUCEUS (students
and teachers) to talk with each other about their
breakthroughs and rate various aspects of the site.
• To
evaluate the usefulness of the site through empirical
studies. |
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References: |
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Cochran, K.F., DeRuiter, J.A.,
& King, R. A. (1993). Pedagogical content knowing: An
integrative model for teacher preparation. Journal of
Teacher Education, 44 (4), 263-272. |
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Erickson, H. L. (1998).
Concept-based curriculum and instruction: Teaching
beyond the facts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc. |
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Furguson, R. F. (1991).
Paying for public education: New evidence on how and
why money matters. Harvard Journal of Legislation,
28(2), 465-498. |
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Furguson, R. F., & Ladd, H.
F. (1996). How and why money matters: An analysis of
Alabama Schools. In H. Ladd (ed.) Holding schools
accountable (pp. 265-298), Washington, DC: Brookings
Institution Press. |
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Glickman, C. D. (1990).
Supervision of instruction: A developmental approach.
(2nd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. |
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Langrall, R.C. (2003).
Mining professional wisdom: Can a database be far
behind? Proceedings of the 14th International
Conference of the Society for Information Technology and
Teacher Education, Albuquerque, NM. March, 24 –29,
2003. |
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Langrall, R.C. (1997). Case
studies of the pedagogical content knowledge of
concept-oriented teachers. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. |
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McDiarmid, G.W. (1990).
Challenging prospective teachers’ beliefs during early
field experience: A quixotic understanding. Journal of
Teacher Education 41 (3), 12 - 20. |
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National Council for the
Accreditation of Teacher Education. (2002). Professional
standards for the accreditation of schools, colleges,
and departments of education. Washington, D.C: The
National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher
Education. |
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National Research Council.
(2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and
school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. |
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Ovando, M.N., & Trube, M. B.
(2000) Capacity building of beginning teachers from
alternative certification programs: implications for
instructional leadership. Journal of School Leadership,
10 (4), 346-366. |
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Prawat, R. S. (1989).
Teaching for understanding: Three key attributes.
Teaching & Teacher Education, 5(4), 315-328. |
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Shulman, L. S. (1987).
Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform.
Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22. |
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TIMSS Video Mathematics
Research Group. (2003). Understanding and improving
mathematics teaching: Highlights from the TIMSS 1999
video study. Phi Delta Kappan, 84(10), 768 – 775. |
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Wilson, S. M. & Berne. J.
(1999). Teacher learning and the acquisition of
professional knowledge: An examination of research on
contemporary professional development. Review of
Research in Education, 24, 173-209. |
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